Minority statement on Presidential Palace loan

Minority Statement On Loan For Construction Of Presidential Offices And Residence

We were constrained today not to participate in the vote on the approval of a US$60 million Indian Exim facility for Rural Electrification and the construction of Office and Residential Facilities for the President.

Firstly for proper Parliamentary scrutiny of the loan agreement we believe that the two projects i.e. rural electrification and presidential office and residences should have been disaggregated and considered on their separate merits in Parliament. We do not believe the assertion by Government Officials on the floor of the house that in the agreement with the Indian Government the two projects could not be disaggregated and that the people of Ghana could not request to use the US$30 million earmarked for the Presidential office and residence complex for any purpose other than that.

The project requests us to approve US$30 million for the construction of offices and residence for the President with absolutely no project appraisal document or design and costing of the project. We are told in the memorandum that the design for the office and residence complex is now to be done in India and presented to the Government of Ghana for approval. On what basis therefore do we approve a loan of US$30 million as being sufficient or insufficient for execution of the project?

While this is a sole sourcing project and therefore not usually subject to the usual rigours of tender and other procurement procedures, the usual value for money evaluation that guarantees that the public purse is not shortchanged has not been carried out. We just got some vague assurances by former Minister of Finance and presently Minister of Education and Sports that in the course of time, after the designs and the quantities have been received a value for money evaluation will be conducted. We find this unacceptable.

As the Government that commenced the rural electrification programme, we totally support the US$30 million allocated to rural electrification and believe that that aspect of the loan facility is fully justified.

We believe that the NPP Government has gotten its priorities completely wrong. At a time when Ghana has deteriorated in the quality of life in the World Human Development Index, at a time when the GPRS review report shows a worsening trend of key indicators like maternal mortality, child malnutrition, infant mortality and incidence of guinea worm, at a time when per capita income stands at US$390, at a time when 9 out of 10 persons in the Upper east are living in poverty, 8 out of 10 live in poverty in the Upper West region, 7 out 0f 10 in the Northern Region and 6 out of 10 persons in Central Regions are in poverty, at a time when economic infrastructure projects across the country with a short term return on investment are crying for funding, we sincerely believe it is a classic case of misplaced priorities to spend over ?270 billion on Presidential offices and Residence Complex at this time.

This is particularly so after an amount of ?16 billion was spent between 2001 and 2002 on renovating the castle to make it fit and comfortable as an office and residence for the current President. After such a colossal expenditure we find it a waste for Government to declare the castle not fit for the Presidency and therefore seek to build a whole new complex at this present time. The issue of misplaced priorities is made worse by the NPP Government?s allocation of an additional ?129 billion, to in their own words ?restore Peduase Lodge to its past glory.?

The argument advanced by our colleagues on the floor that comfortable Presidential offices and Residence will promote tourism and good governance is fallacious. It is our contention that Iraq under Saddam Hussein would then have been the country with the highest level of tourism and good governance. Saddam had an imposing Presidential office and 12 Presidential palaces spread across Iraq.

It is insensitive for government to spend ?276 billion on Presidential offices and residence when the (annual capitation grant for FCUBE is still inadequate to meet the needs of underprivileged school children) cost of education has disabled any from pursuing higher qualifications.

It is our belief that this country will eventually need to build appropriate structures to house the Presidency. We however sincerely believe that at this present time this pursuit is not at the top of the list of national priorities. There are sectors with more pressing needs where such investments were better spent. Education, health, modernization of agriculture, industry, roads, railways, ports etc.

While the NPP can always use its majority in Parliament to ram such agreements down the throats of Ghanaians, we believe that the good people of Ghana are the better judges and are able to discern whether the apostles of the ideology of ?Property Owning Democracy? represent their best interests.

ALBAN S.K. BAGBIN MINORITY LEADER

15TH December, 2005